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Trees, water and a heartwarming dose of joy were the main topics of conversation at the RHS Gardens for the Future press conference this week.
October 31, 2023
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The annual cycle of RHS Chelsea garden announcements, preparations and unveilings will never cease to amaze me. The sheer joy of working alongside some of the greatest horticultural talents in the business, partnered with the most fantastic charitable causes in the UK is what makes my role at PGB so varied and exciting. So it was with great anticipation that I headed to the RHS autumn press conference this week to see our 2024 gardens revealed to media and to chat to some of the people who will make their journey from paper to final destination – via a short stay in London SW3 – possible.
This year’s RHS conference ‘Gardens for the Future’, which of course took place against the wider global backdrop of unimaginable conflict, pain and suffering associated with war and climate crises, provided much food for thought as well as a good dose of joy. International tree champion, Tony Kirkham MBE VMH, Met Office Senior Scientist, Dr Freya Garry, beloved plants-woman and broadcaster Carol Klein and self-confessed gourd-ophile Tom Allen all brought their respective subjects of trees, water and garden joy to life beautifully.
I came away with a renewed respect for the woody beings we share our planet with and without whom no life would be possible. I now know that the UK’s native alder not only survives flooding, but thrives in flood plains, with roots that harden when standing in water. I understand that the choices I make about trees for my London ‘postage stamp sized’ garden should take a range of attributes into account – aesthetic and beneficial – and that pouring a good dose of love in with the biochar at planting stage will help them reach maturity – an essential element of tree establishment that we all need to adopt.
I am inspired to look far more closely at the course water takes through and around my garden, investigating how I can slow its flow and prevent its too-quick escape into the mains sewage system. As Sheila Das, RHS Garden Manager, said, “There is no shortage of water; we have the same amount now as we always have done. It’s just increasingly in the wrong place and we, as gardeners, have the power to divert it for the benefit of the whole ecosystem.” A planted landscape is a resilient one and UK gardeners – all 27m of them – have the power to significantly mitigate water misuse, climate warming and soil degradation by planting a varied mix of native and non-native trees, shrubs and plants.
I was thrilled to learn that Harry Holding, a newly established garden designer who was supported by PGB in 2023 with an All About Plants garden for School Food Matters, is back at Chelsea in 2024 with the RHS ‘No Adults Allowed’ Garden, designed in collaboration with students from Sullivan Primary School in Fulham. What could be more joyous than seeing new talent we have supported continuing to inspire the next generation of gardeners, ecologists, biologists, engineers, architects and landscapers?
All the gardens being funded by PGB at RHS Chelsea 2024 are underpinned by sustainable horticultural choices, innovative construction techniques and materials and a pure love of plants in all their forms. But the future of our planet relies as much on careful investments and economic planning as it does on innovation and it will take bold financial decisions and generous donations to safeguard some of the increasingly precarious corners of our world. Collaboration is the key to all great partnerships of course and I was proud to stand alongside Clare Matterson, Director General of the RHS, Ed Workman, CEO of The Newt, the headline sponsor of RHS Chelsea, and Marit Mohn, founder of the Mohn Westlake Foundation, who will be funding the RHS education programme for the next three years. Together we hope to inspire more investment in this wonderful industry and in the incredible charitable causes who provide essential support and services to some of the most vulnerable in our societies.
On Tuesday 26 March 2024, Rosie Atkins received an RHS Elizabeth Medal of Honour (EMH), in recognition of her contribution to horticulture. Rosie talks about her career and what receiving the EMH means to her.
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For the last 20+ years I’ve been celebrating IWD in the corporate world … a world where we’ve used the day to celebrate the progress and achievements being made. And that’s been important because, let’s face it, there are still today material discrepancies in the number of women in senior and leadership roles, and in gender pay. Corporates now recognise the issue and, in most cases, are working hard to address the imbalances. However, targets of 40% of women on Boards and an 8% gender pay gap shows there is still a long way to go, and it’s a nut that hasn’t been cracked.
We are delighted to be supporting all six of the All About Plants gardens at RHS Chelsea this May. These small gardens use the power of plants to highlight the work of some amazing charitable causes and showcase new designers and specialist growers and nurseries.
Project Giving Back exists to amplify the work of charitable causes in the UK. We fulfil our purpose by funding gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The gardens are first a catalyst for engagement at the world-renowned Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, before being relocated or repurposed to permanent sites across the UK creating an ongoing legacy and benefit to the causes and their communities.
Project Giving Back (PGB) will support 15 gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024, including seven show gardens and two sanctuary gardens that have been announced by the RHS today.
We are now accepting expressions of interest from charities and designers interested in applying to create a fully funded show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. This follows our recent announcement that Project Giving Back is extending its programme of funding for gardens for good causes until 2026. Here we explain in more detail the stages and timeline for the application process.
Project Giving Back (PGB) intends to continue its support of gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2025 and 2026. Expressions of interest for 2025 funding can be submitted via the Project Giving Back website from Friday 22 September to Friday 3 November 2023. All gardens supported by PGB are repurposed in permanent locations around the UK after the show as ongoing legacies for the causes that inspired them.
We are excited to be back at the Garden Museum in September with a two week exhibition celebrating the 15 gardens supported by PGB at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. All our 2023 gardens for good causes are being relocated to permanent homes throughout the UK.
My first visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show site during the build always blows my mind. With 25 show gardens this year, the compact site feels full of activity, machinery and a LOT of people in high vis.
Project Giving Back offers a form of creative philanthropy in which good causes receive a gift of opportunity rather than direct funding. Wide ranging benefits include opportunities for extensive press and social media coverage, hosting exclusive events for potential donors and direct engagement with thousands of show visitors. We asked our 2022 garden teams to tell us how their experience at RHS Chelsea 2022 has impacted their charity so far.
Every International Women’s Day, thousands of “Happy IWD” messages are sent and received. Don’t get me wrong, I’m at the front of the queue when it comes to wanting to celebrate the achievements of women, past, present and future, but when it comes to international anything day/week/month, ‘happy’ is not often what I feel. While I applaud organisations for using it as a vehicle for highlighting change still needed, every year, there’s a part of me that feels frustrated because the very existence of a day is evidence that equality is still being strived for.
Speaking at the PGB 2023 Exhibitor Workshop, Katie Tait, Director of Communications at Maggie’s and PGB Mentor, chats to some of our 2022 cohort about the challenges of running successful PR campaigns in the crowded Chelsea media space.
House Nine Design and Project Giving Back helped raise over £15,000 to help those fleeing domestic abuse through the charity Furnishing Futures.
We are delighted to reveal further good causes we will support next year with the announcement of the All About Plants and Sanctuary Gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.
Following a hugely successful inaugural year in 2022, we will support more gardens for good causes in 2023. They will be presented at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, before being repurposed and relocated to their permanent homes across the UK. These include seven Show Gardens announced by the RHS. All gardens we support are inspired by UK charities and will live on after the show as a lasting legacy for their individual good causes - as teaching gardens, community spaces and other beneficial green spaces.
The Garden Museum will host a special exhibition, from 30 September - 6 October 2022, to celebrate the twelve gardens for good causes supported by Project Giving Back that were presented at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
To help applicants plan a submission for 2024 funding, we are sharing more information about the questions that will be asked in our expression of interest form.
From 1 - 23 September 2022, we will be inviting expressions of interest for garden funding at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.
RHS Chelsea 2022 was a vintage year and Project Giving Back is proud to have played its part. Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, reflects on the charity's first RHS Chelsea Flower Show, celebrates some of the incredible success stories, and looks ahead to the next milestone in the charity's Chelsea journey.
Hattie Ghaui has been appointed CEO of Project Giving Back, which is now a registered charity.
Once our charities and garden designers have had their design accepted by the RHS, then it’s all systems go. There is a huge amount of organisation involved in creating a show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. As former RHS Chelsea Flower Show Manager and RHS Head of Shows Development, our advisory panel member Alexandra Denman is perfectly placed to provide insight into the many things that go into bringing together a successful show garden.
It is thanks to the generosity of our Founders that Project Giving Back exists to give good causes the opportunity to have a presence at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Here our Project Director, Hattie Ghaui, explains more about how our gardens are funded.
When Project Giving Back was first conceived at the beginning of last year, Rosie Atkins was an obvious choice to be invited to get involved. Rosie began her career in journalism at the Sunday Times and 30 years ago launched Gardens Illustrated magazine. After ten years as editor, she left to become Curator of Chelsea Physic Garden. She has chaired various RHS committees and served on the boards of several charities. Here Rosie tells us what made her want to be part of Project Giving Back and why she thinks gardening and good causes are such a good fit.
We are thrilled to announce the good causes and designers behind four new All About Plants gardens, supported by Project Giving Back at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
Project Giving Back will support 12 gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022. Today we can reveal seven of those gardens, with more to be announced later in January. All gardens supported by Project Giving Back will be unveiled to show visitors and viewers before being relocated to their permanent homes across the UK in summer 2022.
For the first time in the show’s 108-year history, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was held in autumn this year. The sun shone all week and the whole experience was one of relaxed, late summer contentment. We popped along to discover more about how the greatest flower show on Earth offers an unparalleled platform for good causes to tell the world about their work.
We're so pleased to be able to announce a new and unique organisation that will provide funding for gardens inspired by UK charities and not-for-profit organisations at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
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